Pennsylvania governor urges financial solution

The governor wants state legislators to work on a casino law fix before its too late.

US.- Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania’s governor, asked state legislators to work on a solution that would help Erie County and several communities if the ruling that was issued in September by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court doesn’t get fixed.

The state’s highest court ruled a measurement that would risk the incomes that casinos pay to the host communities in the state. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave state lawmakers four months to come up with a solution to fix the problem, but they haven’t thought of anything yet. According to GoErie, Tom Wolf said: “What we really need is the Legislature to do what the Supreme Court asked them to do, and come up with something that does pass constitutional muster.”

The Senate will discuss the issue sometime in January, where they will decide if the casinos still need to pay a US$10 million yearly fee to the local municipalities. Wolf stated that they were lucky that the Supreme Court granted them a window to review the state’s gambling law, but if they want to change it, they need a positive movement around it. The governor said that they’re willing to provide help to municipalities.

State Rep. Pat Harkins of Erie, D-1st District, said: “We did deal with it before the end of last session, but it’s not done. It’s priority number one as far as I’m concerned when you look at what it could do to smaller communities. This is making people uneasy. We have to jump on this as soon as we get back. But I think people will want to make a statement with it, get their pound of flesh for their areas. That’s what I’m concerned about.”